The novena that asks for a sign

Twenty-four Glory Bes a day, and a rose as the answer.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux promised to spend her heaven doing good on earth and to let fall a shower of roses. The novena named for that promise asks not only for the favour but for a rose as the sign it will be granted — one of the very few Catholic devotions that requests a sign at all.

How to Pray It

1. Pray twenty-four Glory Bes each day for nine days, in thanksgiving for the twenty-four years of her life.
2. After each set, pray the prayer below.
3. Name one intention and keep it for the whole novena.
4. Watch for a rose — in any form: a flower, a picture, a name, an unexpected mention.

The Prayer

St. Thérèse, the Little Flower,
please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden
and send it to me with a message of love.

Ask God to grant me the favour I implore [name it],
and tell Him I will love Him each day more and more. Amen.

About This Novena

She was twenty-four when she died of tuberculosis in a Carmel in Normandy, having done nothing the world would notice. Her little way is the claim that holiness is available to people whose lives are entirely small: not great deeds, but ordinary ones done with great love.

Treat the rose as a kindness rather than a test. A novena is not made void because no flower appears, and a rose that does appear proves only that God is not above small gestures.